BITS OF EXPERIENCE AND PROPHESY. 



667 



and probably secured us higher prices than we would 

 have obtained otherwise. The bulk of the Prizetaker 

 crop was shipped in the same crates described and illus- 

 trated in the January number of this magazine. They 

 hold a little less than a bushel each, and sold at $1. 

 The small specimens were sorted out and shipped in bar- 

 rels. They sold as " Danvers Yellow," at from 80 to 90 

 cents a bushel, but might have brought more had they 

 been marketed more promptly. 



The White Victorias have been a disappointment to us 

 this season. They proved to be flat onions, and not very 

 large. Perhaps we did not get the true variety, as our 

 Victorias of last year were round and fair-looking onions. 

 In yield and attractive appearance they are far below the 

 Prizetaker. 



In anticipation of an enormous crop of onions this 

 year, and in view of the higher prices often reported for 

 white over yellow and red onions, we had rejoiced in 

 early summer over the fact that we had planted only a 

 limited area with this vegetable, and that a good share of 

 this was in white onions. Notwithstanding the immense 

 sale of onion-seed last winter, and the unprecedentedly 

 heavy planting of onion bulbs last spring, the crop seems 

 to be quite short, as indicated by the unusually large prices 

 being paid for onions now. Yet in the Buffalo markets 

 there has been hardly any sale for large white onions 

 this fall ; and we see that we have made mistakes in our 

 estimates in several directions. 



Our onions grown by the old method were a flat fail- 

 ure, although they had really the best part of the ground, 

 and this was well prepared, and seed was sown as early 

 as the season and soil conditions permitted. The blight, 

 which found the transplanted onions of considerable size, 

 struck down the seedling onions when they had hardly 

 begun to make bulbs. Consequently, the crop consists of 

 a lot of small bulbs of little value. We tind that uni- 

 formity in size and appearance is one of the chief advan- 

 tages of the new onion-culture, and unevenness and small 

 size of a large number of onions (unless the crop is thor- 

 oughly thinned quite early in the season) one of the 

 greatest disadvantages of the old one. 



The following varieties of onions gave us fairly good 

 bulbs, and yielded best among the 25 sorts grown directly 

 from seed : Spanish King, Prizetaker, Yellow Danvers, 

 Large Yellow Puget Sound. 



This season's experience in handling onions again 

 prompts us to emphasize the necessity of having the crop 

 perfectly dry before putting it in barrels. Even then it 

 is not safe to leave it in tight barrels for any length of 

 time. The onions are liable to sweat and begin a new 

 growth, which would soon spoil them for sale. We run 

 no risk by putting well-cured bulbs up in our slatted, 

 open crates ; but we take good care to leave onions in- 

 tended for shipment in barrels spread out thinly on a 

 dry and airy floor until the time of shipment. 



Once we were in favor of planting the same piece of 

 land in onions year after year for an indefinite period. 

 Since the advent of the blight we have changed our 

 mind. It made its appearance last year, later in the 



season, affecting only a portion of the patch. We should 

 have taken warning in time, and chosen a piece of ground 

 remote from that then in use, for onion-growing this 

 year. We must now abandon the field, for the blight 

 would be quite likely to kill the onions on the same piece 

 of ground, or on one near it, next year. We have no 

 remedy for this blight, and know no preventive except 

 rotation. As we cannot hope to conquer the enemy, 

 there is nothing left for us to do but to run away from it. 



Pear and Apple Crops. — Pears are a paying crop in 

 Niagara county. The Bartlett is the leading variety, and 

 here does well even under neglect, while paying enor- 

 mous profits under high cultivation. We have, in earlier 

 notes from the grounds, mentioned the Bartlett orchard 

 of our neighbor, John Hopkins. This orchard, contain- 

 ing less than two acres, but being rather closely planted, 

 is probably the best-paying piece of farm land in the 

 county. The crop — at least all that remained after the 

 windfalls had been disposed of in the local (Niagara 

 Falls) market at good prices — was sold to a canning 

 establishment for exactly $r,6oo. In i8gi the fruit from 

 the same trees was sold (for the first time in years) at 

 less than $1,000; in 1890 it brought $2,700, and in i88g 

 as much or more than this year. This is a remarkable 

 record. Every Bartlett orchard in this vicinity yields 

 good returns to its owner, yet we know of none which, 

 for profit, will compare with Mr. Hopkins' two acres. 



The reason is not far to seek, and the story bears re- 

 peating. Mr. Hopkins has learned the value of manure 

 and clean cultivation. Other pear orchards in this 

 vicinity are either in sod or cropped with grain, etc., and 

 they are seldom manured. Mr. Hopkins manures his 

 two acres heavily every year with old compost, keeps the 

 ground between the trees free from all growth, and the 

 surface mellow and clean by the frequent use of the 

 harrow during spring and early summer. A few trees 

 standing off to one side alone were left in sod, and they 

 show the effects of this neglect by refusing to give the 

 large yields and the tmusually fine fruit found on the 

 trees under cultivation, being content to bear the moder- 

 ate crops of the neighborhood. Notwithstanding heavy 

 dressings of barnyard manure, blight has never appeared 

 to any alarming extent in this orchard. Here is an im- 

 pressive lesson on the value of high culture, yet it has 

 thus far failed to make an impression upon the non-re- 

 ceptive, average grower. 



Years ago, one of our progressive fruit-growers planted 

 an orchard of Clapp Favorite, anticipating higher prices 

 for it than for the Bartlett, on account of its earliness 

 and fine appearance. He has discovered, to his sorrow, 

 however, that Clapp Favorite stands no chance against 

 Bartlett as a market pear. Everybody wants the latter 

 for canning, as it has a flavor and whiteness of its own 

 that especially fits it for this purpose. Clapp Favorite 

 must be picked quite a while before it is ripe, else it will 

 surely rot from the core by the time it gets into the con- 

 sumer's hands. 



Ellwanger & Barry, of Rochester, New York, fre- 

 quently speak a good word for the Anjou. This is a 



